It has come time to try and break my toddler of her binky habit. This love affair, or obsession rather, is somewhat foreign to me because my dear son never used one of the sucky things to console himself. Thus a habit I’ve never had to try and break before. What I have been able to determine, is that this is not going to be easy. It is going to include massive amounts of screaming and possibly equal amounts of liquor…and those are just for me. I don’t think my dear daughter is going to be too happy with the process either.
As with any parenting rite of passage, I have received copious amounts of advice about how to handle this little problem and get rid of the binky for good. Here’s how those ideas have gone so far:
• Cold Turkey – At first I thought maybe that would be the best way to go. You know, just cut the cord and get it over with. Well what that did was teach her father and me that Miss B is capable of screaming at the top of her lungs and throwing a fit for at least two hours with no indication of her tiring or giving up. Needless to say we caved long before I’m certain she would have. FAIL!
• Cut the Tips – My daughter is no dummy. She knew immediately that something was amiss and requested, no demanded, a replacement for the defective binky. What do you think happened when her request was denied? That’s right, another unbearable session of screaming and crying (screaming from my daughter, crying from her father and I of course). FAIL!
• Out of Sight, Out of Mind – or not. At first I thought this may work, and it may, but it’s not a quick solution. It’s going to be a long, drawn out process if it does do the trick. You see my daughter has caught on that even when she doesn’t physically have binky, it’s close by and accessible so while she may play for a while, even hours, before she decides she wants it, she always decides she wants it. So this tactic has not really resulted in her being okay with not having a binky, just not having it all the time. I suppose that’s a small step and a bit closer to the goal, but the minute I refuse it when she asks for binky again, we’re back to the insane, never ending, and inconsolable fits. I won’t call this a fail, but it’s not really a win either…at least not yet.
So how do we finally get binky to go bye-bye forever? Do I just let it run its course and she’ll give it up when she’s ready or am I already waiting too long since she’s over 24 months and now I’m scarring her for life? I did talk to our dentist and he told me that it won’t ruin her teeth if she’s not completely broke of it at this point and shouldn’t be an issue unless she’s still using it past age 3 or 4 (which is not going to happen – I’m certain about that!) so I’m less concerned about that…that’s something at least. Anyway, I’m open to binky habit breaking suggestions.
What has worked for you and what tactics have bombed? Let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading!
Rhonda says
February 5, 2014 at 7:17 pmOh, Alison, this took me back a couple years to when my oldest was a little one. He had a love affair with his bobby. I know others call it a binky, but his was a bobby and it was like a little bff for him. We waited way to long to break him of it, because we knew it would be so hard for him and for us.
When it was finally time, we knew we had to be creative. I took a needle and poked one hole in the bobby. Every day I’d poke a new hole or two in the bobby. It was a really long process, but gradually, over the course of 4-6 weeks, it was less and less satisfying for him, so he didn’t pop it in so often. After he rarely used it, I finally put a bigger whole in it. He told me “bobby broken. Need new bobby.” I told him that was the only one and we didn’t have any more. He kept his bobby for another week or two before it was lost for good.
Would I suggest the long, drawn out route that we took? No, we were crazy! Covertly adding holes? Who does that? However, if I had to do it again, I’d personally do it the same way. It was easy and painless all around.
Good luck with Binky Breaking!
Jamie (Mama.Mommy.Mom.) says
June 17, 2014 at 7:06 pmWe actually convinced our guy that if he buried them, the Easter Bunny would sprinkle them with magic and make lollipops grow. He was super excited about the lollipops, but then wanted his paci back… too bad that he had already eaten the lollipop! We fussed for a few days, then it was over. We never looked back!